The Texas National Guard is being encouraged by some social media users to be more violent in response to migrants attempting to enter the United States illegally.
Illegal immigration has risen under President Joe Biden's watch and continues to divide communities around the country, notably border states and cities with sanctuary status.
Videos taken Thursday on the U.S.-Mexico border in El Paso, Texas, showed a throng of migrants, described by on-scene reporters as hundreds of individuals of different nationalities, causing a "riot" and using force to try to overpower soldiers.
The incident occurred simultaneously as Texas waits and sees if it can enforce its own immigration laws, including arrests and deportation, through legislation known as Senate Bill 4 (S.B. 4). The legislation previously approved by state lawmakers continues to be litigated in appeals courts and as high as the U.S. Supreme Court.
Total border crossings exceeded 988,900 individuals between October and December, following a record-setting number of 2.4 million migrant encounters at the southern border in fiscal 2023—up from approximately 1.7 million in 2021.
Newsweek reached out to the Texas Department of Public Safety and other officials via email for comment.
"The TX National Guard & Dept. of Public Safety quickly regained control & are redoubling the razor wire barriers," Texas Governor Greg Abbott wrote on X, formerly Twitter, following the border incident. "DPS is instructed to arrest every illegal immigrant involved for criminal trespass & destruction of property."
Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, described the scene as "chilling."
"This is the result of the Biden Administration refusing to secure our border and protect America," he wrote on X.
Mexican photojournalist J. Omar Ornelas, who lives on the northern border of Latin America, posted a different-angled video on X of the scene in El Paso—showing migrants purportedly from Africa, Central America, Colombia and Venezuela breaching concertina wire to get to the larger border wall.
Charlie Kirk, founder and president of the conservative organization Turning Point USA, wrote on X that having a national border means individuals have to protect it.
"Ultimately, having a border means being willing to have armed men at the border willing to use force to stop those attempting to cross it," Kirk wrote. "If you aren't willing to do that, then your border is fake — anyone who wants it badly enough can just force their way in. The world is calling Biden's bluff."
In February, Representative Morgan Luttrell, a Texas Republican, introduced the Defend Our Borders from Armed Invaders Act in the U.S. House, authorizing the National Guard to escalate force as necessary to repel an armed individual attempting to illegally enter the U.S. through Mexico.
A spokesperson for the congressman told Newsweek via email on Friday that the legislation applies only to those migrants carrying lethal weapons. The bill currently awaits committee mark-up.
"This border crisis is a full-on invasion, and the Biden Administration continues to recklessly turn a blind eye to the ongoing danger this presents," Luttrell, a 14-year U.S. Navy veteran, told Newsweek. "I fully support Governor Abbott's and the Texas Guard's efforts to secure our border."
Abbott's words, meanwhile, sparked some impassioned criticism on social media.
"Lethal force required," one X user wrote in response to Abbott.
Another X user wrote: "If citizens did that to law-enforcement, they would be tased or shot, and they'd be lucky to be arrested. It's time to deal harshly with invaders, Governor. We have sonic and millimeter wave crowd-control weapons. It's time to use them."
Podcaster and U.S. military veteran Wayne DuPree described the scene on X as an "invasion [that] should be dealt with accordingly," adding that refugees don't assault border agents.
"What good are guns at the border if we aren't going to use them?" political commentator and Donald Trump supporter Gunther Eagleman asked on X.
"An unarmed American female veteran was shot to death at near point-blank range on Jan 6 because a federal officer considered her a threat for invading a public building," wrote political commentator Julie Kelly. "Hey @LindseyGrahamSC where are your shoot to kill orders for these invaders?"
Update 03/22/24, 11:30 a.m. ET: This article was updated with comment from Luttrell.
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